The present invention is directed to electronic gaming devices and, more particularly, to electronic gaming devices having flexible reel mapping that maps random numbers to physical stops on reels of the electronic gaming devices.
Conventional slot machine games allow a user to wager on the positions at which spinning reels of the slot machine will stop. For example, conventional slot machines have symbols disposed on the outer periphery of each of the reels. The rotational positions of the symbols with respect to a payline of the machine dictate the outcome of the game and how much, if any, money the machine will payout to the user. While historically slot machines utilized mechanical components such as gears, weights and levers, today slot machines, as well as numerous other gambling games, may be implemented on a microprocessor-based platform.
Such gambling games typically utilize a microprocessor to control various functional aspects of the machine. For example, a microprocessor may control payouts, indicate machine malfunctions, track credits and control reels that display the outcome of a game to a user. In addition to its other functions, the microprocessor of a gaming device may also determine the outcome of a particular game and display the game outcome to the user. For example, after a user wagers value and pulls a spin lever of a gaming device, the gaming device generates random numbers and maps the random numbers to rotational positions on the reels. The gaming device then stops the reels at rotational positions to display symbols on a payline and determines the outcome of the game based on the rotational positions of the reels. Commonly, a first random number is mapped to the leftmost reel and subsequent numbers are mapped to subsequent reels from left to right. During game play, the microprocessor stops the spinning reels of the gaming device from left to right, from the perspective of the user.
Typically, the leftmost reel has the highest odds of displaying a high payout symbol on the payline and the rightmost reel has the lowest (or longest) odds of displaying a high payout symbol on the payline. For example, if a CHERRY is a high payout symbol, the leftmost reel may have one in five odds of displaying a CHERRY, while the rightmost reel may have one in one hundred odds of displaying a CHERRY. Accordingly, during game play, as high payout symbols appear at the payline on the reels from left to right, the user anticipates a high payout outcome for the game and may become very excited. However, as is commonly the case, even if each reel up to the rightmost reel displays a high payout symbol, the rightmost reel will rarely display the high payout symbol because the rightmost reel has the longest odds for displaying such a symbol.
The fixed assignment of random numbers to reels does not enhance the apparent randomness of the game outcome. Additionally, the assignment of the longest odds for a high payout symbol to the rightmost reel may be initially exciting to a user because the user may actually think that they are about to win a large payout before the rightmost reel stops. However, over time the user may become sensitized to the fact that while high payout symbols commonly appear on the leftmost reels, the rightmost reel rarely displays a high payout symbol. Accordingly, over time a user may become disinterested in playing the gaming apparatus.
According to one aspect, the present invention may be embodied in a method for use in a gaming apparatus having a plurality of reels, wherein each reel has a plurality of physical stops associated with a plurality of symbols. The method is for mapping random numbers to the plurality of physical stops on the plurality of reels. The method may include receiving a user input indicating a desire to start a game, spinning the plurality of reels and generating a random number. The method may further include randomly associating the random number with a selected reel of the plurality of reels, mapping the random number to one of the plurality of physical stops on the selected reel, stopping the plurality of reels from spinning so that the symbols on the reels indicate an outcome of the game and determining the outcome of the game based on the random number and the physical stop to which the random number was mapped.
The method may also include mapping the random number to an intermediate number that is randomly associated with the selected reel and mapping the intermediate number to one of the plurality of physical stops using a translation map.
According to a second aspect, the present invention may be embodied in a gaming apparatus including a plurality of reels, a plurality of physical stops associated with a plurality of symbols on each of the plurality of reels for displaying an outcome of a game to a user, a plurality of motors associated with the plurality of reels for spinning the reels and a user input device for indicating a desire to start a game. The gaming apparatus may also include a controller coupled to the plurality of motors and the user input device, and the controller may include a processor and a program memory. The controller may be programmed to receive a user input indicating a desire to start a game, to spin the plurality of reels, to generate a random number and to randomly associate the random number with a selected reel of the plurality of reels. The controller may also be programmed to map the random number to one of the plurality of physical stops on the selected reel, to stop the plurality of reels from spinning so that the symbols on the reels indicate an outcome of the game and to determine the outcome of the game based on the random number and the physical stop to which the random number was mapped.
According to a third aspect, the present invention may be embodied in a programmed memory that is capable of being used in connection with an electronic gambling unit that may include a processor, a plurality of reels, each reel having a plurality of physical stops associated with a plurality of symbols, for mapping random numbers to the plurality of physical stops on the plurality of reels. In such an embodiment, the programmed memory may include a first memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to receive a user input indicating a desire to start a game, a second memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to spin the plurality of reels and a third memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to generate a random number. The program memory may also include a fourth memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to randomly associate the random number with a selected reel of the plurality of reels and a fifth memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to map the random number to one of the plurality of physical stops on the selected reel. Further, the program memory may include a sixth memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to stop the plurality of reels from spinning so that the symbols on the reels indicate an outcome of the game and a seventh memory portion physically configured in accordance with computer program instructions that would cause the electronic gambling unit to determine the outcome of the game based on the random number and the physical stop to which the random number was mapped.